Tired of the inconsistency of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (supporting taxes and voting for cloture on a controversial nomination), Erick Erickson is pushing for Georgia Republicans to oust him via convention in 2014; even though candidate are typically nominated through a primary:
The sections after §21-2-180 lay out the procedure for collecting signatures on a petition and the timing of a convention. With tea party muscle it would be very doable.
And it should be done, if just on principle. When Saxby Chambliss gets to Washington, he has a terrible tendency to drift to the left until about election time and then come back with some folksy lines and an aw-shucks demeanor.
As long as the grassroots of the Georgia Republican Party behave like they have battered wife syndrome and keep taking Saxby back after he beats the crap out of them in Washington, the guys in Washington are going to keep taking advantage of the grassroots.
As the Georgia GOP meets this weekend, the delegates should recognize that as long as they play by Saxby’s rules — a primary fueled by lobbyist dollars — he’s going to keep batting his eyelashes at them while stabbing them in the back in Washington both social issues and fiscal issues.
A convention would fire up the grassroots and give the Georgia GOP’s grassroots activists control of the nomination in a way they’ve never had before. It’s time to take back the party in Georgia.
With Chambliss not up again until 2014, there is plenty of time for the Georgia GOP and tea party activists to lay the ground work for a convention. They should start the conversation this weekend in Macon.
Some of us saw these inconsistencies three years ago when Chambliss ran for re-election and would likely have supported a more fiscal conservative primary challenger. However, that didn’t come to pass. Most of voted instead for Allen Buckley, the Libertarian Party candidate, instead.
While there are factions inside the Georgia GOP, problem here is that the tea party movement is too small to really threaten Chambliss. Most Georgia Republicans that go to these conventions are largely beholden to elected officials. While Chambliss isn’t Johnny Isakson, he’ll still be re-elected in 2014; assuming he runs again.
Erick Erickson thinks a little to highly of himself. Where was he in 2010 when Johnny 2-Pack was up for re-election? The only difference between Johnny and Saxby is when you shake Johnny’s hand you don’t have to take a bath. Saxby is the one of the worst politicians we have ever had in Georgia. Yes I said the worst, but the GOP zombies will keep voting for him because he is a Republican, so called pro-life, and white.